Commodities Update Is the fall in the Baltic Dry Index cause for concern? The recent slump in the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) may mean that demand for bulk commodities has softened, with negative implications for prices. But the relationship is far from straightforward. Indeed... 22nd February 2018 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Investors become less positive on metals There are early signs that investor sentiment in the metals markets is deteriorating, although more so for industrial metals than precious. Some of the technical indicators that we monitor have... 22nd February 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Commodities weather the equity storm Commodity prices fell in the wake of the late-January correction in equity indices. Some appreciation of the dollar also weighed on prices, although the dollar has since fallen back. That said, all... 21st February 2018 · 1 min read
Energy Update Strong demand to support US natural gas prices US natural gas prices should rise this year as domestic demand and LNG exports experience an upsurge. However, a jump in supply will limit the increase in prices. 20th February 2018 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update US tariffs on steel and aluminium appear inevitable The price of US steel has already benefited from the prospect of heightened protectionism in the US. Indeed, prices could actually fall back if President Trump decides to moderate his actions to... 19th February 2018 · 1 min read
Precious Metals Update New (higher) forecasts for gold and silver We are revising up our end-2018 forecasts for gold and silver prices to reflect the fact that we no longer expect the US dollar to strengthen this year. Nonetheless, we are not inclined to do a U-turn... 15th February 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Update US infrastructure plan won’t lift commodities demand We are sceptical that President Trump’s infrastructure plan will be approved by Congress. What’s more, even if congressional approval is forthcoming, the reliance on state and local governments and... 13th February 2018 · 1 min read
Energy Update Oil prices have further to fall We think that concerns about surging supply in the US will put further downward pressure on oil prices in the coming months, even if global equity markets stabilise. 9th February 2018 · 1 min read
Precious Metals Update 2018 to be the year for platinum We expect the platinum market to be broadly in balance this year, after a sizeable surplus in 2017. However, the recent price increase means that this is already largely factored into prices. As such... 9th February 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Update China’s commodity imports bounce back China’s commodity import volumes rebounded strongly in January. Admittedly, this partly reflects seasonal volatility associated with the Chinese New Year. But it also seems likely that demand from the... 8th February 2018 · 1 min read
Precious Metals Update 2017 World Gold Council Demand Trends Global gold demand fell to its lowest level in eight years in 2017. Weak investment demand accounted for most of the decline. With demand from India and China likely to remain subdued and Fed... 6th February 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Commodities caught up in the wider sell-off The latest falls in commodity prices have more to do with risk aversion than any deterioration in underlying demand and supply fundamentals. That said, we had always expected commodity prices to fall... 6th February 2018 · 1 min read
Precious Metals Update What does India’s budget mean for gold? India’s budget for FY18/19, released yesterday, was a mixed bag for gold. On the one hand, incomeboosting measures for the rural population are good news for jewellery demand. On the other hand, the... 2nd February 2018 · 1 min read
Commodities Update China PMIs point to a stable January China’s unofficial and official manufacturing PMIs diverged a little in January but both imply that activity held up relatively well. That said, they were not sufficiently strong to explain the gains... 1st February 2018 · 1 min read
Precious Metals Update Is there more to the gold rally than a weak dollar? Our analysis shows that dollar weakness can explain much of the recent strength in the price of gold. As such, given our view that the US currency will appreciate this year, we think that those gains... 31st January 2018 · 1 min read
Energy Update How much of the rise in oil prices is due to the dollar? We think that about half of the surge in oil prices since the start of December can be attributed to the slump in the US dollar. However, a stronger dollar should put some downward pressure on oil... 31st January 2018 · 1 min read
